Untranslatable words, a beautiful and terrible concept ultimately accountable for most of the translator's notes, have suddenly become the talk of the day, and I wanted to be part of it. [red_box]The Untranslatables are those foreign words so glorious and unique in their stupendous synthesis, that they only leave you with two possible choices: you can either (1) steal them altogether, or (2) renounce the sentiment.[/red_box] (more…)

to work [wɜːk] • intr.v. 1 Toil, knuckle down, roll up one's sleeves. There's a whole world of people out there who "get stuff done", who go out at 7.30 am - even before the sun has risen - and get back home at 6 pm, after an hour and a half of train or motorway commute, queueing at green traffic lights. It may be…

I like the Scandinavian style, Paul enjoys the ultra contemporary office, Christina only works in the garden, Francesca gushes over metal surfaces. There's plenty of different tastes and Pinterest boards dedicated to home offices (here's mine). I simply wish to remind you that design magazines and interior decorators won't be putting their asses in that brushed steel chair for 50 hours a week, the pleasure is all yours. (more…)

Last week we started exploring the fabulous work-at-home universe and we found out that it answers the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. But, there's a but, my dear Frodo. Like each and every mythical city of gold worthy of the name, the road to El Dorado is paved with danger. To begin with, isolation enhances weirdness and if you don't set some boundaries…

It's Sunday, we're in January, and instead of breaking an arm on the slopes like all normal people do at this time of the year, I'm home, working. This happens because CES has just finished and every consumer-electronics company worthy of the name was there. And each and every one of them has presented Giza-Pyramid-shaped loads of new products, which will eventually flood European markets and will have to…

My neighbour Caterina's kids shout all the time. In summer afternoons, she places an inflatable pool just outside the entrance, under my windows, letting Marica (her eldest) tease the young Mario for hours, stealing his toys or splashing water in his face. The acoustic effect is that of a beast that's being flayed alive, given that Mario is still 5 and has a shrill, high-impact voice…

ABOUT

Random and messy thoughts (there's always so much to do!) on what it means to be a freelance translator right here, right now. With sporadic incursions in parallel universes, but not too far away. I promise.

I'm currently staying in the basement apartment under my blended family's flat. We've recently left Molise, the southeastern Italian region where we've lived for the last four years, and are now back in Rome. [footnote]We'll be staying in the basement until D settles into his new Dilbert-like workplace or quits it altogether after deliberately deleting half of the business-critical data and peeing in the new servers in a fit of hysterical laughter.[/footnote] It's easy for me to change cities because I'm a remote worker. That means I can live where I want - yes, even in a leased flat overlooking the Ha Long Bay - if there's electricity and broadband Internet, and as long as I accept that while I'm in Vietnam most of my work is going to happen between 3pm and 11pm, when my counterparts in Italy and in the UK will be at it too. "A spectre is haunting the world — the spectre of remote work." - Deliberate misquote. That's why I buy books with titles like Remote: Office Not Required. It's a business book about working remotely (please consider remote as a verb in the imperative mood, here), written by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson,…

I like the Scandinavian style, Paul enjoys the ultra contemporary office, Christina only works in the garden, Francesca gushes over metal surfaces. There's plenty of different tastes and Pinterest boards dedicated to…

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WHO

I was born in Bulgaria, that's why my name is Daniela Vladimirova. I also have a patronym, but I'll spare you that. When I was in elementary school I moved to Rome with my mom, where I grew up.
I graduated in foreign languages at La Sapienza in Rome and am now a technical and marketing translator for major international corporate clients. I live in the Netherlands with darling D. I work with English, Italian, occasionally German and Bulgarian.